Jesse Strang, 18, named as Canadian school shooter who murdered nine before dying by suicide
The gunman who killed nine people in the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history has been identified as Jesse Strang, who is reportedly transgender.
Strang, 18, opened fire in the library at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon, a parent whose son attends the school told the Daily Mail.
The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said his son knew Strang’s family and played sports with one of his siblings.
His son was at the academic institution on Tuesday when Strang carried out the deadly massacre. His father added that he was now ‘scared of going back to school’.
Juno News and Western Standard News were among the first publications to identify Strang as a biological male and identified his attacker as a woman named Jess.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police declined to confirm Strang’s identity and whether he was transgender after being contacted by the Daily Mail.
Police said six people were killed and 25 injured at the school, with another victim dying on the way to the hospital. Two more people were found dead in a nearby home, believed to be linked to the deadly attack.
Sources told the Mail that Strang lived at the house with three relatives.
Strang’s uncle, Russell, who told Juno News he was responsible for the attack, said the suspected attacker was “transgender.”
Students were photographed outside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in Canada on Tuesday after transgender mass shooter Jesse Strang killed 10 people
Maya Gebala was one of 27 people injured in the shooting. The woman, who was shot in the head and neck, is receiving emergency medical treatment at a Vancouver hospital.
The claim regarding Strang’s gender identity was echoed by Tumbler Ridge Middle School students Liam Irving and Juan van Heerden, who said Strang was a few grades behind them in school.
Strang is also believed to use the pronouns on her since-deleted social media accounts.
The pair told the Western Standard that Strang was a ‘quiet child’ and was often seen ‘sitting alone in the corner’.
Irving said his mother worked at the school and was present at the scene of the attack. ‘He heard almost all the gunshots,’ he added.
Irving claimed that Strang’s mother and younger brother were well known in the Tumbler Ridge community and were ‘good friends’ of his family.
‘There’s not a single person in this town right now who hasn’t been affected by this,’ he added.
